This invention relates to recreational vehicles or manufactured housing units having a retractable room in which the floor of the retractable room moves to a position flush with the floor of the main living area when the retractable room is extended.
The widths of recreational vehicles and manufactured housing units are limited to that which may be accommodated for travel on roads. Accordingly, it is increasingly common to provide recreational vehicles and manufactured housing units with a slide out room that can be retracted into the main living quarters when the unit is being moved or driven, but which can be extended from the main living quarters to provide auxiliary living space when the unit is parked for use or when the manufactured home is assembled at the home site. When the room is retracted into the main living quarters, the floor of the retractable room slides over the floor of the main living quarters and hence the level of the retractable room floor must be above the main floor when the room is retracted. When the room is extended to provide additional living space, most users find a difference in floor levels between the main living quarters and the extended room to be unsatisfactory, and thus it is desirable to provide a mechanism for bringing the room floor flush with the main living quarters floor when the room is extended. Such mechanisms known in the prior art require relatively complicated mechanisms and are relatively costly.
It is also desirable to guide or synchronize the movement of the slide out room so that it does not bind during extension or retraction. Accordingly, recreational vehicle slide out rooms with synchronizing mechanisms have been developed to ensure proper movement of the room as it is extended and retracted. Examples of such slide out rooms are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,295,430 and U.S. Pat. No. 2,987,342.
In one embodiment of the present invention, one or more extendable support members (or inner supports) are housed within channels (or outer supports) in the floor of the main living quarters. Bending of the inner supports which support the slide out room is designed to permit movement of the room such that in the fully extended position, the floor of the slide out room is flush and level with the floor of the main living quarters. Accordingly, the slide out room must necessarily drop to the level of the main floor where the innermost portion of the slide out room rests on top of the supports. The supports are preferably rigidly connected to the slide out room, eliminating the complicated prior art movable linkages. When moved from the extended position, the slide out room is raised by an amount sufficient to place the slide out room floor on top of the floor of the main living quarters which then supports the weight of the slide out room.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, a recreational vehicle includes a slide out room having a synchronizing mechanism. The synchronizing mechanism includes a pair of inner guides, a pair of outer guides, a pair of slide assemblies, a pair of cylinders, a pair of pulley assemblies and a pair of cables. Each slide assembly includes an inner slide member and an outer slide member connected by a bracket. The bracket is connected to the slide out room and to one end of one of the cylinders. The inner slide member moves within one of the inner guides and the outer slide member rides within one of the outer guides. A pair of brackets is connected to the inner slide member to provide connection points for the cables. The inner guides include slots or other openings to accommodate movement of the brackets attached to the inner slide members. In one embodiment, the cylinders are located between the inner and outer guides. Brackets extend from the guides to support one end of each of the cylinders. The pulley assemblies include brackets, double grooved pulleys and bushings. The brackets mount the pulleys to the guide members. The brackets also support the bushings. The cables are connected to the brackets extending from the inner slide members and are threaded around the grooves of the pulleys. The bushings resist displacement of the cables from the grooves in the pulleys. The cables are arranged such that if one end of the slide out room extends or retracts faster than the other end, the cables apply a force to one of the ends to synchronize movement of the ends. The slide out room may also include a mechanism for adjusting the tension in the cables. In other embodiments, the slide out room includes a mechanism for ensuring a proper seal between the slide out room and the main living area of the vehicle when the slide out room is in the extended and retracted positions.
Other features of the present invention will be apparent to those of skill in the art from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying figures.